Do honors from noted brew festival bring more sales along with prestige?

“In good times, beer is good. In bad times, well, it’s still a good thing.”

Vince Marsaglia, vice president of Grain to Green, a Carlsbad company.

Great American Beer Festival

What: The world’s largest brewing competition

When: The 29th annual festival runs Thursday though Saturday

Where: Colorado Convention Center, Denver

Pouring it on: San Diego County brewers scored a dozen or more medals there in 2007, ’08 and ’09.

The county’s top breweries by medal count

One thing about San Diego’s beervana reputation is as clear as a filtered Pilsner: siblings Gina and Vince Marsaglia are indispensable. Their enterprises — Pizza Port Carlsbad, Pizza Port Solana Beach and Port/Lost Abbey — have won more than half of the 58 Great American Beer Festival medals captured by local breweries since 2005.